


The problem with special protagonists

by Metabird (wheatear)



Series: Approaches to storytelling [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Game of Thrones (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Chosen One, Essays, Game of Thrones Spoilers, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Special Protagonist, Spoilers, Spoilers for Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23065765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheatear/pseuds/Metabird
Summary: The more you make your protagonist special because of their status or background, the more you are relying on some external factor to justify them being the protagonist instead of doing the work to show how awesome they are.A meta essay on the pitfalls of special protagonists.
Series: Approaches to storytelling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653421
Comments: 19
Kudos: 10
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	The problem with special protagonists

**Author's Note:**

> I first posted meta about this trope in 2013. This essay adapts some content from that post, and adds in some new discussion following episode 12x10 of Doctor Who "The Timeless Children".

You know the ones. They're special. They're different. They have a destiny. It's fate that the hero's journey landed on their shoulders. It was meant to be.  
  
I dislike the special protagonist trope for the same reason [I hate prophecies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23006134): they're a lazy way to make the protagonist matter. They're also a lazy way to set plot into motion. Need your hero to get up and start their journey? Give them a destiny! Make them special somehow. As long as they're The Only One who can do something, you can simultaneously give the protagonist the motivation they need to get started, and get your antagonist interested without them outright killing your hero.  
  
What do I mean by special protagonist? I mean protagonists who have some or all of the following traits:  
  
1) They have a Destiny. They're the Chosen One. There's some kind of prophecy about them, which is usually an in-universe way of proclaiming that they're the protagonist.  
2) They come from a wealthy or aristocratic background, whether they know it or not.  
3) They're part of an Elite Group or one or both of their parents were, but even within this group there's something extraordinary or different about them and/or their parents in particular. This often means they have Extraordinary Powers that others don't have.  
  
So often in media the protagonist is either already wealthy/aristocratic or they appear to be a commoner at first but guess what, one or both of their parents are secretly royalty/nobility or whatever counts as special/important in the canon. This is especially common with young protagonists.  
  
Examples:  
  
• **Harry Potter** is a great example of "appears ordinary, actually extraordinary". Not only is he a wizard, his father James comes from one of the most ancient and highly respected pureblood families and oh, his parents were incredibly rich too. And of course he turns out to be a literal Chosen One.  
  
• **Lyra Silvertongue**'s parents are both aristocrats and highly influential figures in _His Dark Materials_. As a child, she's quite the brat and hangs out with the urchins and servants but it's always clear that she comes from the upper echelons of society rather than the lower.  
  
• **Jon Snow** and **Daenerys Targaryen** are the epitome of this trope so I would like to personally thank _Game of Thrones_ once more for subverting the narrative in the finale. Haters can hate, [I loved it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005360), I still love it and I wouldn't change a thing.  
  
I should add a caveat at this point. I don't mind protagonists being special in some ways. I don't mind Harry Potter being a wizard or even The Boy Who Lived; I do mind him being The Chosen One. I don't mind the Doctor being The Last of The Time Lords; I do mind her being the Timeless Child. It's when the narrative crosses a line and makes its protagonist special for the sake of being special, or for unnecessary plot contrivance, that it bothers me. Why does it bother me? Because either the protagonist is awesome already in which case making them special is unnecessary, or they're not awesome in which case making them special is a weak justification for them being the protagonist despite having all the charisma and capability of a wet paper bag.  
  
The more you make your protagonist special because of their status or background, the more you are relying on some external factor to justify them being the protagonist instead of doing the work to _show_ how awesome they are. I want to be convinced by deeds, not by the authorial Word of God.  
  
Which brings me to the Doctor, and the revelation in 12x10 that the Doctor is the Timeless Child. She has become special by virtue of what she is, not what she does. The show has flirted with stuff like this before, with all that nonsense about the Doctor's real name in previous seasons. Isn't being a Time Lord enough? Why does she have to be special even among the other Time Lords?  
  
Of all the characters to do this to, the Doctor is the last one you should think of. She doesn't need it! I like the Doctor as, yes, an extraordinary character because they're a Time Lord, but their backstory as a rogue member of their species who ran off with a TARDIS and _then_ became the heroic figure we know and love through their many adventures is far more compelling than "oh guess what she's super special and awesome because of this past revelation that has had absolutely no bearing on any of the Doctor's actions in the entire series". And if you're thinking, well, this revelation doesn't take away the awesome stuff that the Doctor has done, let's take a look at this quote:

> _"You've given me a gift. Of myself. You think that could destroy me? You think that makes me lesser? It makes me more. I contain multitudes more than I ever thought or knew. You want me to be scared of it because you're scared of everything. But I am so much more than you."_

  
This is the Doctor saying that she's more than the Master because of _what_ she is, because of a past she doesn't even know, not because of who she is. The show is called _Doctor Who_. Who the Doctor is is defined by their actions, by who they choose to be. But not here. So, no, this revelation doesn't take away the awesome stuff the Doctor has done, but the narrative has shifted its definition of what makes her special and that's not a good sign for me.  
  
_Doctor Who_ is a show with, at best, fluid continuity, so it may well not do a lot with this plot development beyond adding in some more past incarnations and you never know what will be retconned or not in the future. Which is why despite not liking this development, I'm not that worried. But I do think it's a good example of what happens when there is a failure of imagination regarding what makes for a compelling protagonist. Show, don't tell. Show us that your protagonist is worthy of the role.  
  
(Incidentally, this trope is why I couldn't get through more than a few minutes of _The Lego Movie_. I know it's a parody, but it parodies the trope by playing it all painfully straight and I couldn't handle it. I hate that movie, guys. I really do.)


End file.
